For thin-film based processes, flatness of a substrate is typically an important factor in achieving high production yield for such products as integrated circuit modules, for example. Warpage of such a substrate may lead to substantial variation in alignment of via stacking, and/or capacitor or inductor values, just to name a few adverse effects. Accordingly, a warped substrate may not be suitable for thin-film processes involving fine line width/space design, such as a 10 micrometer/10 micrometer design, to list a particular example.